Stitched

Chapter 1: A Stitched Smile

Content Warnings: Brief moments of gore.

Thunder rumbles all around the house, flashes of lightning cracking through the curtains covering the windows. Hungry flames consume the wood in the fireplace, illuminating the faces of three of my friends with a warm glow. Shadows creep along the dimly lit walls like dancing demons threatening to swallow any unfortunate soul.

“Thunder. Lightning. Haunted house. Classic horror movie,” Kaden groans, swinging his leg over his thigh and lounging back against the couch. “Come on, Mila. I thought you said we were doing something completely new and scary on Hallow's Eve.”

“Shut up, Kaden. We just got here.” Layla pushes him playfully. Sitting beside him, he wraps his arm around her shoulders before she gives him a kiss on the lips and cuddles against him.

“Don’t worry. I promised you guys a good scare today, and I shall deliver." I grin. I definitely am determined to traumatize them tonight. That’s all I’m looking forward to. “So just… settle down and I’ll get right to it."

Two muscular arms wrap around me from behind as Lucas kisses me on the cheek. “You ready to terrorize everyone, babe?”

I give him a wide smile. “You betcha.” He walks around the couch and sits down on my right, the cushion seats sinking underneath both our weights. He gives me another kiss, this time on the neck. His nose tickles my skin as I giggle and nudge him away.

“Ew. Get a fucking room, you two.” Madéleine scrunches her nose in disgust, her red hair shimmering a warm, fiery color from the roaring fire.

I roll my eyes. “Not our fault you’re the only one who came here alone.”

“Yeah, well, my partner is terrified of haunted houses, so they didn’t want to join.”

Good for them, then.

“Alright, let’s get this party started.” White light flashes, followed by deafening rumbles of thunder. Everybody jumps a little at the noise, followed by the house groaning as the wind beats at the walls.

I clear my throat to get everyone's attention. “Okay, so, this house used to belong to a woman and her daughter back in the 1800s." My eyes slowly scan each one of my friends from right to left. “When the daughter was suspected of practicing magic and the dark arts, her church-devoted mother hanged her."

Layla's eyes widen in shock as Madéleine shifts a little in discomfort. Lucas's cheekbone twitches every so slightly.

"The house was fully renovated, but stayed unsold for a while. Actually, for a long time until sometime in the 90s when a married couple bought it. They seemed completely normal, the husband going off to work and the wife tending the house..."

"You mean, normal back then..." Layla scrunches up her nose.

I shrug. "Sure, whatever. Anyway... While the husband was being oblivious and slaving away at his boring, no-end-in-sight job in a cubicle, his wife had different plans."

All three of my friends' faces are now fixed in an intent stare, much to my enjoyment, while Lucas takes a deep breath.

With an amused chuckle, I lean forward and clasp my hands over my knees. “The wife… Now she was desperate to become famous on stage. All her life, she dreamt of being on Broadway and in theater. So, one day, she stumbled upon the very same book that the witch used before she was betrayed by her own mother."

The fire flickers violently, its flames creating dancing shadows along the walls. The storm continues to gain strength, each gust of wind howling louder as the house creaks and groans.